Meet the Family Behind NBA Star OG Anunoby

Ogugua 'OG' Anunoby Jr. is not your typical NBA star. Born in London to Nigerian parents and raised in Jefferson City, Missouri, the 6-foot-7 forward for the New York Knicks has built one of the more quietly compelling careers in the league. He's an elite defender with a knack for big moments, most recently a game-winning tip-in in Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals.

OG comes from a large, deeply accomplished family, shaped by academic excellence and athletic ability in equal measure. Here, get to know OG Anunoby's family:

OG's father was an academic who built a career spanning three continents. Born in Nigeria in 1952, Ogugua Sr. earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nsukka-Enugu, a Master of Science from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, an MBA from the University of Glasgow, and a Ph.D. from Brunel University in England. He worked as a lecturer at the University of Lagos, an executive at the African Central Bank in Lagos, and a lecturer at Oxford Brookes University before relocating the family to the United States.

As described in a 2017 profile about OG, Anunoby Sr. ran a structured household, holding his children to high academic standards and ensuring they got in an hour of reading each night. 'I do not intend to be immodest, but we tried to raise a proper family,' Anunoby Sr. told Sportsnet. 'And when I say proper, what I mean is we are people who do things well. We value hard work, order, and success. You don't talk unless you have to talk. And if you have to talk, you should say something that doesn't take away from the conversation, but enriches it.'

Once the family settled in the United States, OG threw himself into sports, including soccer, track and field, American football, and baseball, where his father believed he had the most potential as both a pitcher and a hitter.

It was his father who, perhaps unintentionally, directed him to basketball. When OG was eight, he lobbied his father for months for an adjustable backyard hoop, a premium model that didn't come cheap. His father eventually relented, with one condition. 'I said to him, 'You have to promise to actually use it. You will make sure that we have value for money,' Anunoby Sr. said years later. 'It turns out, it was a very good investment.'

From 2001 until his death, he served as a professor of finance at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri. He passed away on September 27, 2018, at the age of 66.

The Anunoby children inherited their athletic prowess from their mother. OG's mom, Grace Ndidi Okereke, was a competitive track and field athlete who represented Nigeria at the national level.

Tragically, she passed away from cancer on May 12, 1998, when OG was just one year old. His father raised the family largely on his own after her death. 'It was tough not having a mother, but my dad did a really good job raising us,' Anunoby said in the aforementioned 2017 interview. The profile noted her death was a topic he didn't usually discuss publicly.

OG is one of seven children. His siblings are Adaeze, Adaora, Chigbogu, Ogonna, Ifeoma, and Olisamaka. The family was originally based in London before relocating to Missouri when OG was four years old.